Fashionable movie: Blow Up

The first time I watched Blow Up, I wasn’t old enough to fully understand the story. All I saw was fabulous people wearing stunning clothes that made them look like they were coming from the most fashionable planet. As someone now working in fashion, I can say that the lifestyle pictured in this movie was exagerated and kind of creepy. I mean nobody—except maybe Terry Richardson—acts that way during a photoshoot!

Still, to this day the movie is a great reference when you think about the madness of the swinging London fashion era. It is also a star studded production featuring popular faces of the time such as top model Veruschka and a pre-Gainsbourg Jane Birkin. It is the kind of movie you have to watch at least once in your life, just to get a glimpse of the freedom surrounding one of the most facinating and stylish periods of the century. In this spirit, let’s take a look at the most iconic moments from Blow-Up.

Veruschka

In what is probably the most sexual scene of the movie, Veruschka—one of the first super models of the sixties—rolls at the feet of the main character in a totally objectifying way. Wearing a black beaded dress that leaves little to the imagination, she totally owns her five minutes in front of the camera.

Jane Birkin

Before she was Serge Gainsbourg’s better half and the soft-spoken voice on Je t’aime moi non plus, Birkin made herself famous by being the first actress to go full frontal nude in a mainstream movie. “I was offered a role in Blow Up and my husband at the time John Barry said I wouldn’t have the courage to go naked, so I thought: ‘Well, I’ll do it and that will thrill him.'”

Vanessa Redgrave

As the mysterious one in the film, Vanessa Redgrave’s sultry character is the epitome of the British lady. She is sophisticated and seductive, wearing a black trapeze skirt and a vichy printed blouse that makes her appear way more put together than she really is.

About The Author

Marie-Ève is a little person who still secretly wishes she was one of the Olsens twins. You can catch her running from event to event, a coffee bigger than her face in one hand and her cell phone glued to the other. At Dress To Kill, she is the one writing about the newest musician you need to discover and that trendy bar that makes the best damn cocktails in the city.